THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF THE MOON'S ANORTHOSITIC CRUST IS TO IDENTIFY THE COMPOSITIONAL DIVERSITY WITHIN THE FELDSPATHIC HIGHLANDS TERRANE (FHT) IN AN EFFORT TO BETTER CONSTRAIN FORMATION PROCESSES (E.G. LUNAR MAGMA OCEAN SERIAL MAGMATISM SECONDARY CRUSTAL PROCESSES AND/OR A COMBINATION OF PROCESSES). IN PARTICULAR WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE COMPOSITION OF PLAGIOCLASE FELDSPAR (CALCIUM CONTENT OR AN) USING DIVINER THERMAL INFRARED (TIR) OBSERVATIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE SENSITIVE TO PLAGIOCLASE COMPOSITION [GREENHAGEN ET AL. 2010; DONALDSON HANNA ET AL. 2014] IN REGIONS OF HIGH- AND LOW-MAGNESIUM CONTENT AS DETERMINED BY LUNAR PROSPECTOR (LP) OBSERVATIONS. LUNAR ROCKS FORMED THROUGH SECONDARY CRUSTAL PROCESSES LIKE THE MG- AND ALKALISUITE [E.G. WARREN 1985; MCGEE 1993; PAPIKE ET AL. 1996] SHOW A GREATER RANGE IN PLAGIOCLASE COMPOSITION THAN THOSE FORMED THROUGH PRIMARY CRUSTAL PROCESSES (FAN). WHILE DIVINER DATA ARE USED TO ESTIMATE THE CALCIUM CONTENT IN PLAGIOCLASE MOON MINERALOGY MAPPER (M3) DATA ARE USED TO IDENTIFY OTHER MINERALOGIES AND LITHOLOGIES PRESENT AND GRAIL CRUSTAL THICKNESS MAPS ARE USED TO CORRELATE MINERALOGY WITH DEPTH OF ORIGIN IN THE CRUST. IN ADDITION LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER CAMERA (LROC) NARROW ANGLE CAMERA (NAC) HIGH-SPATIAL RESOLUTION TARGETED OBSERVATIONS OF PURE PLAGIOCLASE REGIONS WILL BE ANALYZED TO FURTHER CONSTRAIN THE PHOTOMETRIC PROPERTIES AND GEOLOGIC CONTEXT OF EACH EXPOSURE.
$410,636FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
The University Of Central Florida Board Of Trustees, Orlando FL